


First Name Basis

by PrepSchoolAda



Series: Wholesome Ada/RK100 Universe [3]
Category: Detroit Evolution - Fandom, Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Enemies to Friends, Fluff, Gen, Octopunk Media's Detroit: Evolution Fan Film, Post-Octopunk Media's Detroit: Evolution Fan Film, So here we are, a meteor could hit and only Gavin would remain, but he wasn’t really in my Ada fics and I felt bad, for the Gavin stans, he scares me people, he’s too powerful, this entire fic is me getting over my fear of Gavin reed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-03
Updated: 2020-06-03
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:41:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24512533
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrepSchoolAda/pseuds/PrepSchoolAda
Summary: When North asks Ada to move in with her, she’s confronted with all sorts of new feelings that don’t feel pleasant in the slightest. She hopes to seek advice from her unofficial brother Nines, but he isn’t home. However, Gavin is, and he’s surprisingly willing to help her.[set between the Memories and RK Family fics, but not required reading!]
Relationships: Ada (Detroit: Evolution) & Gavin Reed, Ada/North, Upgraded Connor | RK900/Gavin Reed
Series: Wholesome Ada/RK100 Universe [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1767982
Comments: 10
Kudos: 29





	First Name Basis

**Author's Note:**

> I can’t write for Gavin Reed. I just can’t. There is a giant wall in my brain surrounding Gavin Reed. Whenever I try to get into his head and write in character for him, my brain glitches and shuts down and I can’t write. I avoided writing a proper ending to Cooking By The Book because whenever I tried to write the party scene Gavin’s dialogue was so frustrating to write for I just couldn’t do it. It’s the same with Simon. I can’t write for Simon either. Luckily Simon can easily be omitted from my Detroit Evolution fics. Gavin can’t. I gotta get over this wall my brain built around Gavin.
> 
> This fic is basically me trying to get comfortable with writing for Gavin. I meant what I said in the tags, my only true fear is Gavin Reed. The rat man who can’t wink or say “fuck” correctly. He SCARES ME, PEOPLE. But he is a very important part of Detroit Evolution and it wasn’t making a lot of sense to omit him from my Ada fics, especially as Nines got a more prominent role in them in The RK Family, so I’m going to try and jump the hurdle I’ve set myself
> 
> I think the main thing is my brain being like “you’re trying to match all these other amazing Reed900 writers? Stick to your practically empty Adanorth corner where you basically make all the rules anyway, you useless lesbian”. But I’m not. I’m just here to have a good time. And I hope this fic is a good time for you!

Ada knocked frantically on the door of the apartment Nines shared with Gavin. She very much hoped that Nines would be the one to answer the door.

She was trembling, inside and out, and she wasn't at all sure why. She should be happy right now, shouldn't she? North was her whole life, she'd loved North from the moment she'd laid eyes on her. Why had North asking Ada to move in with her scared her so much? They practically lived together anyway. As grateful was she was for deviancy, she really hated all these confusing nonsensical emotions she had along with it. She should at least have been able to pick and choose what emotions she experienced and the times she felt them, they just came at her without warning. It was deeply unfair, in Ada's view.

Nines would often give her life advice whether she asked for it or not, but always when she needed it. He was the only one she wanted to talk to about this. He seemed to _love_ his emotions. She honestly couldn't fathom why.

Gavin answered the door. Ada stiffened slightly. She wasn't quite used to being around him post-deviancy. In fact, their last real interaction had been Ada wrapping her fingers around his neck and launching him across a warehouse by the throat. She'd apologised for it since, but still very rarely looked him in the eye. No matter, she wouldn't have to talk to him for long.

"Detective Reed, hello," said Ada, trying to steady herself. She found that thinking back to her Jericho self often helped her keep her composure when she was anxious. Unfortunately, Jericho Ada was the version of her Gavin liked the least. He frowned at her.

"Hi..." he said tentatively, leaning against the doorframe slightly. Ada shrunk a little. Gavin always made her so uncomfortable. The feeling was entirely mutual.

"Is Nines here? Something's come up, I..." No, she didn't have to explain herself to Gavin. They weren't even on a first name basis, really. "I just need to talk to him."

"He's out tonight," said Gavin, eyes still narrowed, but not in distaste. He'd just never seen Ada like this. She looked so human. In fact, pacing in place and running her hands through her hair in frustration, she didn't look too unlike him when he got worked up.

This news seemed to panic Ada more, so Gavin spoke up again.

"Are you okay?"

Ada deeply loathed that question, especially from someone she really didn't know all that well. "I'm fine! Why wouldn't I be fine?!"

"Jesus Christ, okay," Gavin snapped, backing away slightly as if he was about to slam the door shut. He decided against it, however, leaving them both in awkward silence.

"I'm sorry," said Ada sincerely, staring at the door to avoid eye contact. "I'm... not myself. I think. Deviancy is weird."

If by that she meant emotions were weird, Gavin understood completely.

"Whatever, it's fine," grumbled Gavin, shoving his hands in his pockets. Ada continued to pace, continued to hold her head in her hands, and it seemed almost cruel to leave her alone with whatever thoughts she was having.

With a sigh, Gavin opened the door wider. "You can... you can come in if you want."

Ada finally stood still and looked at Gavin directly, raising an eyebrow. "Are you sure?"

Gavin shrugged nonchalantly. "You don't look like you should be alone right now."

He was right. After some considerable hesitation and a tad more anxious pacing, Ada followed Gavin inside.

She perched awkwardly on the edge of his couch, clutching at her skirt nervously as she did. She watched Gavin make himself coffee, an affectionate cat following his footsteps, purring softly. Ada didn't know where the tension between the two of them came from, really. They didn't hate each other, but they didn't really like each other either. There was no relationship in the whole world like the one shared by Ada and Gavin. She'd attempted to harvest his boyfriend's software, almost killed him, and then post-deviancy became his adopted sister. In between, she'd also strangled Gavin himself at one point and flown him into the sun with one hand. It was a past and a present that neither was quite sure how to navigate. Unfortunately, since both were quite certain no one else had ever gone through what the two of them did, there was no one to ask for advice on moving forward. Even Nines seemed reluctant to get involved in that one sometimes.

Yet Ada was extremely grateful for Gavin. She considered him at least half of the reason she was free; Nines speaking up on her behalf after she'd deviated was all well and good, but he was an android. They wouldn't have listened to his pleas for Ada's freedom on his own. Gavin was a human and he knew it, so he'd spoken up on her behalf too, ensuring that she got a second chance in life. He'd used his privilege to help her, and she'd never forgotten it. On the other hand, he was a human. Ada found humans to be very irritating, even now. It was certainly a tricky one.

"You want one?" Gavin called over his old, loud coffeemaker. Ada shook her head, and upon realising Gavin couldn't see her, politely said "no". Her voice cracked as she spoke.

Gavin slumped comfortably on the other end of the couch, already sipping his coffee, if only for something to do. The orange calico cat jumped up onto his lap and curled up happily as Gavin stroked her.

Ada watched the cat contentedly. She seemed lovely. Ada was a cat person, or at least thought she was. As much as she loved puppies and as much as she especially loved Connor's big old sentient teddy bear Sumo, cats were fascinating to her. They owned every room they walked into. They demanded attention and awe. It was the energy Ada usually went for when she entered any space pre-deviancy. She still very much had that energy now, it was just coupled with overwhelming nervousness at inconvenient times.

The cat wandered to Ada, and she found her eyes darting to Gavin, as if seeking approval. He nodded.

"You can pet her, it's fine. She likes people sometimes. She likes other people more than me, sometimes."

Ada forced a small chuckle as the cat crawled onto her knees. Oh, this was heaven. Getting a cat's approval was the highest honour for anyone, including Ada.

"So, where's Nines tonight?" Ada felt much more comfortable making conversation with Gavin when there was a cat in her hands. This cat would act as a substitute for human interaction, as Ada would have liked life to be all the time. Gavin felt quite the same, unbeknownst to her.

"Dog-sitting for Connor and Hank," said Gavin coolly, his knuckles turning white around his coffee mug. Seeing Ada get along so well with his cat was soothing in a way, however. His cat was something of a litmus test with Gavin sometimes - if the cat liked you, Gavin would consider liking you. It was a good system so far.

Oh, Ada felt so jealous of Nines right now. She wistfully imagined a whole evening of Sumo and only Sumo. Now that was the dream.

"You didn't want to go with him?" said Ada, still avoiding eye contact with Gavin by means of playing with this marvellous cat.

"Nah, I had to watch my Asshole."

Ada looked at him then, somewhat horrified. Why on Earth would he tell her something so personal? They were hardly on friendly enough terms for that!

Gavin seemed confused at Ada's reaction then realised what he'd said. "Oh, the cat's called Asshole."

"You... named your cat Asshole?"

Gavin looked at Ada as if she was crazy for even suggesting that Asshole wasn't a perfect name for a cat, particularly this cat. "Yeah."

Ada resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Of course he'd called his cat Asshole.

"Well, I don't think she lives up to the name at all!" said Ada, her voice full of affection as she looked back down at Asshole, giving her as much attention as possible.

Gavin smirked. "You'll see."

They sat in silence for a little longer, and when Asshole jumped off the couch entirely to wander her kingdom in peace, Ada felt her thirium pump fall. Asshole had left Ada alone with a human she felt awkward around?! Ada took it all back, this cat _was_ an asshole.

Gavin hesitated before he spoke. He didn't want to overstep any boundaries, given how protective he was of his own, but this silence was torturous.

"Do you wanna talk about it? Why you were so upset in the hall, I mean?"

Ada's jaw clenched. She still wasn't looking at him.

"Sorry," said Gavin. "You don't have to tell me"-

"North asked me to move in," Ada blurted out. It had been on the tip of her tongue since it happened. She just didn't expect Gavin to be the one to hear it first.

"Oh..." Gavin had never seen Ada without North since they got together, so it was somewhat surprising that North was at the core of all this suffering. He didn't voice that, though. He knew how condescending it could be when someone assumed how you should feel.

"I know I should be happy," said Ada. "It's stupid."

"Emotions are stupid," Gavin had thought this so often he frequently thought about getting it on a t-shirt. "But... feeling them isn't? I don't know how to explain."

"No-one does, do they?" said Ada miserably.

Ada looked so... vulnerable right now. She'd always been so confident in herself when they met, and in all honesty Gavin had resented that about her at the time. It had annoyed him about Connor and Nines at first too. Who were these fuckin' androids to come in, fresh from the Cyberlife plant, and already have their lives figured out when it had taken him decades to get his shit together? It seemed almost boastful. 

But that wasn't who Ada was now. Maybe it had never been.

"It's not that I don't... want to?" Ada was moving her hands in a more animated fashion than Gavin had ever seen her behave before. "I still don't know myself that well, and having my own space to contemplate who I am and what I want is incredibly valuable to me right now. I know that's selfish, I... I don't even know what I'm talking about, of course I want to move in with North, but what if she hates it? What if we end up killing each other? I don't think I'm ready."

"Are you not ready or do you not feel like you deserve it?" said Gavin. He was unsure where that had come from. He was uncertain he'd ever say anything that profound or helpful again.

Ada paused. She didn't know how to respond. Not knowing all the answers was undoubtedly the worst part of deviancy. 

"Both? I suppose?"

This was agonising. Gavin wished Nines was here. So did Ada. Desperately.

"I hate this," Ada hid her face in her hands. "I hate talking about my fucking emotions."

Gavin raised his eyebrows, almost impressed. He'd never heard Ada swear before. It was kind of cool.

Ada groaned. "It's horrible! What is it with Nines and talking about his emotions?!"

Ada regretted saying that immediately after the words had come out of her mouth. She didn't think Nines' boyfriend would want to roast him with her, after all. To her surprise, Gavin jumped at the opportunity.

"God, right? He fuckin' loves that shit" he said, relieved. "I get being open and honest is healthy for growth or whatever, but it _suuuucks_. Talking about my feelings is the worst. I hate that it's necessary."

rA9, someone got it. She'd never heard a human say this before. It was exhilarating.

"It's like hunting through your insides for the worst parts of yourself and then vocalising them!" said Ada passionately, looking up to face him again. "Why can't we just bottle them up until they evaporate?!"

Gavin, on the other end of the spectrum, had never heard an android understand this attitude so well. It was equally exhilarating.

"Oh my God, right? RIGHT?!"

After a pause, Ada remembered who she was talking to and regained her composure. 

"I'm sorry, I must be ruining your evening," said Ada, as Asshole wandered back into the room. She shot her a glare. This cat had deeply betrayed her.

Gavin shrugged. "I was just gonna watch _The Room_ again, nothing special."

Ada tilted her head. " _The Room_?"

Gavin's eyes lit up. It had been a very, very long time since he'd watched someone watch _The Room_ for the first time.

*

Through Gavin's excitable summary of both the plot and the behind-the-scenes trivia, Ada learned that _The Room_ was a movie from decades ago written, directed and produced by one very eccentric man of ambiguous ethnic origin named Tommy Wiseau. He had made a film with a rather simple plot; a man named Johnny is cheated on by his wife, faces public humiliation as a result and it results in his unfortunate demise. Ada pointed out how unspectacular this story was as Gavin described it, but as he kept claiming, "it's all in the execution!". Ada had never seen Gavin excited about anything before. Even then, he wasn't hyper at all, he was thrilled in his own subdued yet sincere way about _The Room_. It was almost endearing.

"Why does everyone in this movie talk like Johnny?" said Ada as the movie progressed, gazing at the screen. "And how much more badly performed heterosexual intercourse do I have to sit through to get to the funny scenes?"

Gavin was stuffing popcorn into his mouth, quite satisfied with the scenario he'd created. "Wait, it's the good part. Well, one of the good parts."

In the most memorable acting performance Ada would ever see put to film, Johnny walked out of a very small outhouse on a very obviously staged rooftop, clutching a water bottle and ranting about how his wife was spreading lies about his alleged domestic abuse. He then threw the bottle in what Ada assumed was a very impassioned moment for him, looked forward and muttered, "oh, hi Mark". That's when Ada burst into uncontrollable laughter along with Gavin.

"There is no way he didn't see Mark!" Ada guffawed.

"The water bottle fuckin' kills me," wheezed Gavin, sitting upright.

The door unlocked. Both Ada and Gavin cringed. Nines was going to have a field day with this - he'd been trying to get them to get along for weeks now. They were both far too proud to give this Ken Doll bastard that they both loved very much the satisfaction.

"I'm back, and I hear _The Room_ ," Nines sighed. "I'm not playing the drinking game again with you, Gavin, don't even"-

When Nines saw who was sharing the couch with Gavin, his eyes lit up.

"Oh. Hello, Ada."

Ada forced a smile. "Hello."

That was when she remembered why she'd originally come to see Nines. She'd been agonising over moving in with North. To her surprise, she didn't feel the need to talk to Nines anymore. She thought that she needed a deep discussion with someone she trusted before she came to a conclusion on the issue, but she didn't. She needed to step away from the problem, do something fun and then return to it with a clear head. She could not have been more shocked that Gavin was the one to have shown her that, and given her the opportunity to do that.

She stood up, sorry that she was leaving right after Nines had returned home, but aware that it was necessary. She had to talk to North and have the talk about their future that she couldn't have had properly in the midst of her panic. Of course she wanted to move in with North, of course she did. She just had some valid concerns about her own space, and knew that North would be more than happy to listen to her and accommodate them. They were a team. They could get through anything. It seemed crazy to Ada now that she'd even been anxious about it only a few hours ago.

"I'm sorry to leave so soon, but it's important," said Ada. "I'll fill you in later."

Before she walked away, she turned back to Gavin, who was looking at her with newfound appreciation.

"Thank you, Detective Reed." She wasn't quite ready to use his first name, not even after they'd shared _The Room_ together.

After she left, Nines sat next to Gavin with a smug smile. Gavin didn't even need to look at him to know what his face looked like.

"Shut up," he mumbled.

"I didn't say anything," said Nines, still smiling away. He was deeply satisfied that two very important people to him were finally finding common ground, even if it was over this ridiculous indie film, the cult following of which still confused Nines greatly.

"Gavin, there's popcorn all over our couch."

"In my defence, _The Room_ was on."


End file.
